Description

The Tank, Combat, Full Tracked, 105-mm Gun IPM1, or just IPM1, is a rank VI American medium tank
with a battle rating of 10.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.81 "The Valkyries".

The IPM1 (Improved Performance M1) is a minor upgrade upon the protection of the M1 Abrams. This is primarily confined to improved composite protection in the turret cheeks, resulting in a slightly lengthened turret. The IPM1 maintains the same engine, weapon and other internals of the M1.

General info

Survivability and armour

The IPM1 maintains the protective measures and survivability of the original M1 Abrams, with the exception of a minor increase in the levels of composite protection. The result is a notable improvement in chemical protection and a minor improvement in kinetic protection. As with its predecessor, the turret cheeks and UFP are quite effective at deflecting ATGMs and HEAT rounds with only a few selections (such as the ADATS' 900mm penetration missiles). Despite the improved protection, the IPM1 is still vulnerable to turret ring, gun mantlet and lower front plate shots, and particularly powerful kinetic rounds through the turret cheeks.

The Abrams' survivability comes not from armour, but rather from the spread-out crew members and critical components, and blowout panel protecting the crew from ammunition detonation. Often this results in enemies needing to make the choice of either disabling the vehicle's mobility or its offensive ability with their initial round; allowing the Abrams either to escape further damage or fire back.

Rounds that penetrate the rear panel between the turret crew compartment and blowout compartment will negate the blowout protection, causing any potential ammunition detonation to knock the vehicle's crew out as well.

Mobility

Game Mode

Max Speed (km/h)

Weight (tons)

Engine power (horsepower)

Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)

Forward

Reverse

Stock

Upgraded

Stock

Upgraded

Arcade

75

39

55.3

2058

2,898

37.22

52.41

Realistic

67

35

1343

1,519

24.29

27.47

The IPM1 retains the same engine as the original M1 Abrams with a minor increase (+0.9t) in weight due to the armor improvements. As such, the IPM1 suffers from a minimal reduction in top speed but will still comfortably reach 70km/h on-road. Despite the hugely powerful engine, the vehicle's maneuverability suffers prior to the Tracks upgrade being researched; once Tracks have been purchased the IPM1 will perform significantly better in close quarters or in off-road applications.

As with the original Abrams, the IPM1 largely relies on its powerful engine to get it to the battlefield earlier than other vehicles and into advantageous positions.

Armaments

Main armament

Like its predecessor, the IPM1 is equipped with a reliable 105 mm M68A1 cannon, and also has access to the same ammunition. The 105mm cannon is somewhat sub-par relative to the weaponry other top rank vehicles are equipped with, but an experienced tanker can make use of the decent round ballistics and incredibly good reload speeds to quickly despatch targets. It's important to know what the cannon is capable of and where weak spots are on enemy vehicles, particularly when facing more modern vehicles such as the Leopard 2A5 and T-80U.

Machine guns

The IPM1 is equipped with no less than three machine guns - while most often these are only valuable for clearing obstacles or tagging enemy vehicles, on occasion they might prove valuable dealing with close air support or nearby helicopters, as well as some light vehicles.

Additionally, due to the barrage of rounds produced when all three machine guns are fired simultaneously, they can sometimes be used to obstruct an enemy vehicle's gun sight simply by shooting their main gun (AB/RB) or their optics (SB)

Usage in battles

The IPM1 should primarily rely on its speed and reload time to quickly despatch enemies and move back into cover. Where possible, make flanking manoeuvers or use the Abrams' mobility to get into forward positions with the intention to catch unsuspecting targets off. Be aware, however, that the Abrams is only marginally faster than vehicles like the Leopard 2K and T-80U.

When forced into open or ranged engagements, use cover to protect your hull; while the turret may provide insufficient protection keeping the hull safe will often allow you to move back into cover if hit or damaged and repair or relocate, rather than losing your mobility and ability to escape.

Pros and cons

Pros:

Composite armour in turret cheeks and UFP are capable of stopping all but the most powerful chemical rounds and ATGMs

Has a very fast reload, 6.5 seconds stock down to 5.0 seconds aced

Very powerful engine, high top speed and good acceleration characteristics

Extremely good reverse speed

Fast turret traverse

Extremely fast gun elevation/depression

Well spread crew and critical components result in good survivability

Blowout compartment can save crew from some ammunition detonation cases

Array of machine guns, effective against CAS, nearby helicopters and some light vehicles

Cons:

Armour provides suboptimal kinetic protection

The 105mm APFSDS rounds aren't particularly powerful; may struggle to penetrate some modern targets

Extra armour reduces top speed and acceleration

Extremely vulnerable gun mantlet and turret ring

Turbine engine is extremely loud, often audible from long distance and can be used to discern the direction of the vehicle

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.